Cody Mobley.

  I'll be the first to tell you that I am not a photographer, I'm a historian. I have no training or experience in any form of photography other than Archer's wetplate photographic method. My interest in wetplate photography stems from my lifelong interest in the American Civil War and 19th century material culture.

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  In May 2015 I built my first camera, purchased some pre-mixed chemicals,  and taught myself the process. I strive to shoot ambrotypes in a method as closely as possible the original itinerant photographers of the 1850s and 1860s. Each item in my set up is based on or is an original 19th c. artifact used by photographers during the period. I feel that this adds to the authentic experience of having an ambrotype made. 

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  Each photograph is hand made and unique. The glass is cut, the cameras and equipment built, and the mats and foil wrappers are all made with my hands. When the process is complete you will have a wholly handmade photograph. The process will create a truly unique photograph that is impossible to replicate exactly.